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A routine rescue mission turned into a life-changing experience for a Coweta County, Georgia, firefighter.

On June 29, the fire department received a call from Animal Control about a cat stuck in a 40-foot well. Firefighter Jim Cadenhead was one of the responders.

It turned out to be a simple mission. “We took the roof off of the well house and hooked up a little system to go down into the well,” Cadenhead said. “Then I grabbed the cat.”

But it wasn’t so simple to determine the cats future. Animal Control took the frightened marmalade cat to a vet, where he got a clean bill of health. From there he went to a shelter, where he waited for a new forever home. And waited. And waited.

“After a few weeks I started getting a lot of calls from rescue groups, and I replied to one lady,” Cadenhead says. “She told me a lot of people were following the story and wondering what would happen to the cat. It got me thinking.”

Cadenhead contacted the shelter and found out that the cat would be euthanized if it wasn’t claimed soon. He had a quick chat with his fire chief and his daughters, Kelsey, 10, and Sarah, 11. With their blessing, he decided to adopt the little cat in late July.

It’s been an adjustment, said the firefighter, who hadn’t had a cat since he was a child.

The ginger tabby, now named Max, is presumed to be about 2 years old. He is getting along pretty well with the family’s two Rhodesian ridgeback dogs, and getting lots of love from Kelsey and Sarah.

Thanks to his two-time rescuer, Max survived being stuck in a well and being stuck on Death Row in the local shelter. Now he’s living the good life in the arms of a heroic firefighter and his family.